Elida

With wrinkles and gray hair she is ageing with grace
But oh she does have such a beautiful face
With kindly brown eyes and a wonderful smile
One who is untainted by conceit or guile
She never gave birth or never was anyone's wife
To the caring of the have nots she devoted her life
A missionary nursing sister in South America for years
She remembers the past with nostalgia and tears
Without monetary reward she helped those in poor health and dire poverty
A woman blessed with the gifts of compassion, kindness and empathy
A humble person for helping the poorest she does not wish to be known
In her one bedroom flat Elida lives on her own
In her early eighties her hair silver gray
For years a nurse to the poorest in a land far away.